To Hurt Your Brother
by OrangeSlicePop
Summary: "Yuri Lowell, while you should have a more severe punishment for the murders of Councilman Ragou and Captain Cumore, on behalf of His Highness Ioder, you shall receive forty-five lashes from the whip..." Flynn and Yuri (implied Yustelle). Warnings: whippi


"Yuri, we need to talk. I have orders-"

"It's about Ragou and Cumore, isn't it?"

The knight grunted in affirmation, "You need to accept your punishment-"

"Flynn, you're hiding it, I know what you're doing. I know you've made the punishment less than what it would be. Still, carry on with it."

"I am simply following orders," the knight said stiffly, "I'm surprised you aren't giving me complications."

"I can't back out of it, Flynn. I'm aware of the pain. You know I can tough it out."

Flynn nodded. He led the vigilante through the woods as the raven-haired man requested that no one see the punishment be carried out. Flynn knew he was talking about a certain princess with rose-colored hair and the younger boy who idolized him.

"How many?" the vigilante asked.

"Forty-five, thirty for Ragou and fifteen for Cumore, I thought that was sufficient."

"Forty-five is gonna hurt," Yuri said as his hand travelled to his back.

"You deserve it."

The pair reached a clearing in the forest. The light of the twilight sun glowed through the tangle of branches. Yuri rolled his shoulders. This wasn't going to be fun. Yuri took off his shirt along with his sword; he threw them across the clearing. Flynn stared at the man. He saw scratches along the man's back and arms. Was Flynn really going hurt his best friend who already suffered enough?

"Flynn, stop staring and get this over with." Yuri tried to hide the hint of nervousness in his deep baritone voice. Flynn gently pushed Yuri into the nearest tree and tied his hands above his head. Flynn rested a hand on Yuri's back which would soon be a bloody mess.

"Yuri Lowell, while you should have a more severe punishment for the murders of Councilman Ragou and Captain Cumore, on behalf of His Highness Ioder, you shall receive forty-five lashes from the whip..."

"Just get on with it."

Yuri heard Flynn retreat back a few steps and heard him remove something from his belt. Yuri tensed up a second, but nothing happened. He relaxed only to hear a swish of air and a loud snapping noise followed by a wave of pain. He gasped in more surprise than in agony.

"One," Flynn counted in a low voice. Yuri once again heard the tell-tale swish and snap of the leather whip that brought about pain. The whip seemed to hurt more than a monster bite.

"Two."

The whip snapped again.

"Three… Four… Five… Six… Seven…" Flynn counted as the whip would rip and tear at Yuri's back. It was a slow punishment in Yuri's eyes and the pain seemed to affect Yuri differently, as if he felt guilty and ashamed.

"Eight… Nine… Ten…"

Yuri remembered the one time he was beaten with a belt by Cumore. That situation was similar to the one he was in now; only when Cumore punished him, it was much more humiliating. Cumore had ordered him to strip almost completely naked then, save for his underpants, and was struck by his own belt until he found himself sobbing into his best friend's shirt. He made a mental note not to cry. Crying made him feel vulnerable and he doubted Flynn would console him this time.

"Eleven… Twelve… Thirteen… Fourteen… Fifteen…" Flynn hated himself more with every gash that landed on his friend. Soft rivers of blood were starting to drip down the man's back. Yuri made a small noise of discomfort; he was never good with punishment and more often than not did he look like the beaten child he found on the street one rainy evening.

"Sixteen… Seventeen… Eighteen… Nineteen…"

Yuri gasped and bit his lip.

"Twenty… Twenty-one… Twenty-two…"

Flynn fought back tears.

"Twenty-three… Twenty-four… Twenty-five… Twenty-six…"

Sweat clouded Yuri's eyes; or was it tears?

"Twenty-seven,"

Yuri started to shake causing his back to bleed more.

"Twenty-eight,"

Tears started to gather in his eyes…

"Twenty-nine,"

He couldn't take it anymore…

"T-thirty,"

The man burst in to tears. He sobbed into the waning twilight filling the clearing with a sound that seemed to fill even the monsters with sorrow. Tears that could put crystals to shame had become distressed waterfalls. The whip still tore at Yuri's back but Flynn wasn't counting anymore. Fifteen blows rained down upon Yuri and then it was over. Finally it was over.

Flynn hurried over to Yuri and cut the rope that held his arms up. Yuri dropped to the ground in a sobbing mess. Flynn approached his friend and pulled his hair out of the blood. Flynn pulled out some lemon gels and tried to coax the man to eat the healing sweet.

"Get your goddamn hands away from me!" the vigilante sobbed.

"Yuri…"

"SHUT UP-!" a lemon gel was popped into his mouth, which Yuri swallowed, and was soon followed by another and another until the bleeding had stopped and the pain had been numbed. Flynn pulled the vigilante into his lap and tried to soothe his tears. Yuri cried into Flynn's shoulder until the sorrowful sounds and tears were reduced to soft sniffles.

"I'm sorry, Yuri."

"Don't be y-you were only f-following orders."

"I can still break the rules," with that Flynn called upon his small magic reserve and partially healed up Yuri's back, leaving the gashes which hurt about as much a cat scratch.

"Y-You're not allowed to heal me with magic."

"When did you start caring about the rules?"

"I didn't," Yuri muttered as he buried his head into his "big brother's" shoulder. Yuri understood how Karol felt when the young boy treated him like a big brother because that's how Yuri treated Flynn. Flynn got on his nerves periodically, Flynn punished Yuri, and the pair fought all the time, but they were brothers and brothers stick together.

"Yuri, did you hold me and Cumore in the same light? You know because of what Cumore did to you?"

"You didn't beat me with a belt."

"But that belt didn't draw blood."

"I think Estelle would hurt Cumore more than you if she found out."

"Personally I think Estelle fancies you."

"No she doesn't."

"Have you seen the way she looks at you?"

"…no…"

"I think she's head over heels for you. She's been locked up for so long that she hasn't experienced true love yet and I think her first chance at love would be with you. Don't give me that look; you're in love with her too. I can see it every time you are around her. Now come on, let's get you back to your group."

Yuri donned his black shirt and grabbed his sword, which he used to examine his tear stained face.

"Ugh, they're all gonna know I was crying."

"I don't think they will care."

"Estelle maybe, but to Karol I'm the one who doesn't cry. Unfortunately, he tries to emulate me and he might get the wrong idea if he sees I've been crying. Plus Rita is definitely not gonna let me live it down."

"Just be glad she's not Sodia."

"IF YOU TELL HER…!"

"I won't, I won't," Flynn said with a laugh.

Flynn walked Yuri back to the inn where Brave Vesperia was spending the night. The knight only watched as his best friend walked into the inn with his bangs hiding the tearstains. Through the window, he saw Yuri be enveloped into a hug from both Karol and Estelle. Rita stood awkwardly at the side while Raven and Judith said comforting words to the vigilante as his dog licked his hand.

"It's good to know my brother is in good hands," the knight said to himself as he walked away.


End file.
